UNH business school dean considers run for Congress

PORTSMOUTH — A city resident and dean of the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire is in the early stages of exploring a run for Congress in 2014.

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By Joey Cresta

seacoastonline.com

By Joey Cresta

Posted Jul. 23, 2013 at 3:05 PM
Updated Jul 23, 2013 at 3:07 PM

By Joey Cresta

Posted Jul. 23, 2013 at 3:05 PM
Updated Jul 23, 2013 at 3:07 PM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — A city resident and dean of the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire is in the early stages of exploring a run for Congress in 2014.

Dan Innis, a marketing professor and head of the UNH business school, said he started considering a run for office after friends came to him and encouraged him to run.

“It’s very, very early. That’s why I’m not saying much,” he said in an interview with the Portsmouth Herald Tuesday. “I would say that a firm decision hasn’t been made yet and for that reason, there’s not a lot to say.”

The possibility that he may challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., was first reported by James Pindell, author of WMUR.com’s “Political Scoop.”

“It’s an exploration. It’s just a matter of having conversations with people and trying to determine what are the issues that they’re looking at and does this make any sense,” Innis told the Herald.

Innis has no political experience, but has worked with the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group seeking to bring fiscal responsibility to Washington. He said his work with the coalition has been through collaborations with the UNH business school.

Innis has been dean at the business school since 2007. He also runs the Ale House Inn on Bow Street with his husband, Doug Palardy. He downplayed the significance of his perspective as a gay married Republican.

“There’s nothing really to say,” he said.

Innis and Palardy were featured in a Portsmouth Herald article last year when they celebrated the defeat of an attempt by the Republican-led state Legislature to repeal gay marriage.

He said that if he was to run for Congress, his focus would be on fiscal issues in Washington.

“I would say that a lot of people feel that the fiscal issues are the major issues facing the country right now and those need to be addressed,” he said.

Innis provided no timetable for making his decision. If he does run, he could face a challenge in the primary from former U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta, R-Manchester. Shea-Porter defeated Guinta in last year’s election.

It is not yet clear whether Guinta will run, but in a message posted on Twitter Monday, Guinta wrote, “Heard from CD1 (Congressional District 1) supporters and discussed with family. I’ll make a 2014 announcement in Sept!”